| The late great Dale Earnhardt would be mighty | | | | Earnhardt set up for his children no longer had any |
| unhappy if he could see what has happened to his | | | | children with the Earnhardt name driving. Many |
| dream team. The recent announcement that the | | | | predicted that the team would fall on hard times and |
| number eight car will be parked for a lack of | | | | suggested Teresa Earnhardt had made a major error |
| sponsorship is nothing less than a total shame. | | | | in not working out something with Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
| The story is well known by now. Dale Earnhardt set | | | | The recent announcement that the number eight car |
| up his DEI team for the purpose of creating a racing | | | | will be sidelined for a lack of sponsorship appears to |
| platform for his family and specifically for his kids to | | | | be the final nail in the coffin for DEI - a fruition of that |
| follow him as drivers. At the time of his untimely death, | | | | decision. It is a sad day indeed. |
| the team appeared to be on solid ground. The | | | | It should be noted that Junior hasn't exactly bloomed at |
| subsequent success of Junior in the number eight car | | | | Hendrick racing. Hendrick Motor Racing is generally |
| was more than enough to stoke the interest of fans. | | | | considered to have the best equipment in the |
| To this end, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., became the most | | | | championship. While teammates Jimmie Johnson and |
| popular racing car driver in NASCAR. | | | | Jeff Gordon are clearly two of the top drivers in |
| Then it all started going wrong. | | | | NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s results have been |
| Junior found relative success in his first few years at | | | | nothing less than disappointing. Despite his immense |
| DEI. And then he did not. What exactly went wrong is | | | | popularity, it is becoming harder and harder to overlook |
| still difficult to say. Most people sided with the most | | | | the fact that his finishes are nowhere near as |
| popular driver, Junior, and voiced the opinion that the | | | | competitive as his esteemed teammates. |
| equipment that was being given to the drivers was no | | | | At the end of the day, it is hard to find any winners in |
| longer sufficient to compete for wins week in and | | | | this situation. Dale Earnhardt's vision of having a team |
| week out much less championships. Others took the | | | | for his kids to drive has failed. Teresa Earnhardt has |
| opposite tack, and suggested that perhaps the drivers | | | | been left with no team. Junio has found no success at |
| simply were not good enough to win championships. | | | | Hendrick to speak of. All in all, everything probably |
| As we were to find out subsequently, perhaps both | | | | would have worked out much better if Junior had |
| arguments were true. | | | | simply stayed at DEI and Teresa Earnhardt had given |
| The inevitable split of Teresa Earnhardt and Junior | | | | in a bit when it came to ownership issues. Obviously, it |
| was a tough one in the sport. The team that Dale | | | | is far too late for that now. How sad. |